A Breath Of Fresh Air
by Glitchek
Summary: It was just a dream, he was okay, it hadn't actually happened.


It was warm under his plush duvet, the sun shining in through the cracks in the curtains that kept Shirazu's room private from the cold outside world. It was spring, the frost of winter was dying away and the flowers had begun to bloom; he had been looking forward to it for a while.

He had promised to take Saiko out for ice cream once spring had sprung, he remembered.

With the most recent case, that being the Nutcracker case, and the last of winter finally creeping away he thought things may change. For the better, perhaps, he had wondered.

Staring up at his patterned ceiling, he lay motionless, listening to the birds chirp happily outside his window and the patter of socked feet as they made their way down the hallway outside his room.

It had been just a nightmare, nothing more.

It wasn't real. He hadn't been fighting some giant monster of a ghoul, it hadn't cut into him and left him to bleed onto the carpet- but, god, the pain, it had hurt so much. It had been an odd dream too, if you cut out all the scary in it. Urie had been above him ( _It'll be okay,_ he promised), Saiko with fat tears rolling down her cheeks- until everything started leaving without him. It had all started going dark, too dark, no one was there or saying anything and it felt so _real_.

But it wasn't. None of it had been real, he was fine, in bed, alive.

A knock on his door startled him, shaking him from his thoughts.

"We're having breakfast soon, you should come down and join us!" The soft voice of Tooru coming through his door, he pushed himself up onto his elbows to stare at the door quietly, mind stuck on his nightmare.

"...Shirazu? Are you awake?"

"Ah-" He began pushing himself up to sit against his headboard, a hand running over the short hair on his head, "Yeah, ill be down in a bit. Gotta freshen up a bit first."

"Okay! We'll save some for you if you aren't down in time." Shirazu smiled, sharp teeth and all, Tooru was so kind. The steps of Tooru began again and faded away as he walked down the hallway away from Shirazu's room. It felt unreal, it felt like _this_ was the fake world and that he should have died, that the dream was the real world, but he knew better- right?

"All this thinking's hurting my head," Shirazu groaned to himself, throwing his duvet off of himself and standing beside his bed, stretching, eyes meeting the ceiling again. Relaxing, he stood for a moment, hands behind his head as he thought about the dream.

Urie looked so scared.

"Just a dream, just a dream," He mumbled to himself, trying to shake it off. Dropping his hands down to his sides, he began to get dressed, pulling clothes (a simple grey shirt with a white pocket and some black trousers would do, it was his day off after all) from his drawers and making his way to the bathroom. Opening his bedroom door he was blasted with cold air, shivering and making a mental note that no, pyjama trousers on their own with no shirt doesnt count as pyjamas while its still technically winter.

Pressing his clothes to his chest, he winced at the touch of the cold floor to his bare feet. Looking down the hallway at Saiko's room, he listened to the chatter from downstairs ("Leave some for Shirazu-" "He can make his own cant he").

It was nice.

He knew Saiko was still asleep, snoozing away peacefully in her room, Tooru and Urie downstairs lightly arguing over breakfast, Sassan probably out somewhere buying things they needed.

This is nice.

Opening the bathroom door, he made his way in, hissing at the even colder tile against his abused feet. Hopping about as he tried to pull on his socks as quick as possible, he heard a door open and little thumps of feet as they made their way tiredly down the hallway. Pulling on his jeans, he stared at the door handle, waiting for it to start jiggling. "Saiko?"

"Yeah, can i come in, i want to pee."

He let out a bark of laughter, quickly pulling his shirt over his head, making a mental note to brush his teeth after breakfast. Opening the door (the floor significantly less cold; the handle warmer now), he was met with Saiko's small, tired face.

She had looked so sad, scared, tearful. It had felt so real, really. _This_ was real, right?

"Shirazu?"

Blinking, he shook his head lightly and moved out of the way for Saiko to get past him into the bathroom. The door locked behind him and he stared down the hallway. A window was open and breathed cold, fresh air down the neck of his shirt- he shivered. This was real. He was okay.

Taking a deep breath in, he turned to make his way downstairs, absentmindedly thinking about the slippery floor beneath his socked feet and how he could fall, hurt himself, die in real life- but he shouldn't. Shaking his head and grimacing, he stared down the stairs, thinking about the dream. It was just a dream and he was okay, no matter how real it had felt.

It wasn't healthy to think about those things and he knew that. Slowly, he began down the stairs and sighed when he finally reached the carpeted flooring of the downstairs hallway, wriggling his toes into the carpet fibers.

Glancing into the hallway into the kitchen he saw Tooru, Urie and- Sassan, he was here. He remembered begging to see Sasaki in his last few moments, he just wanted to see him there for the last time. But its fine, he's here, everyone's here, Shirazu thought to himself as he walked into the kitchen.

The clink of tableware against plates as everyone ate their breakfast sounded throughout the kitchen as Shirazu took another deep breath and broke out a wide smile.

"Good mornin'! Hope you didnt miss me too much." He asked as he sat down; they were having pancakes this morning. Pulling a few onto his plate from the shared plate in the middle of the table, he looked up at everyone sat around, hearing Saiko leave the bathroom upstairs.

Sasaki laughed, "We didnt miss you too much, dont worry." He reassured Shirazu with a smile on his face, friendly as ever. Tooru laughed along and even Urie smiled a little, he was sure.

As he could hear Saiko come down the stairs, he looked out the window across from him, above the sink. He could see the tree in their garden from here, the sun shining in through the glass and into the kitchen- it felt warm. It felt nice.

His nightmare was long gone and so the sun continued to shine.


End file.
